This page
is dedicated to stories of individual painful encounters with either
wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, honey bees or bumble bees. We want to
thank all those who contributed and invite others to send in their
experiences so any who are not familiar with the rapid action of
charcoal will be moved to try this simple natural remedy for
themselves, should the ocassion arise.

Remember,
you don't need to have activated charcoal for it to work. The charcoal
from a wood stove, fire pit, or leftovers from a forest fire will also
work, especially if you are far from regular outlets of activated
charcoal or a hospital. Remember also, time is of the essence. Quickly
make a charcoal paste, using a little water and whatever charcoal you
can get, and smear it directly on the bite area. For multiple wounds,
submerging in a bath with charcoal powder mixed in brings quick relief.
For more details go to Insect Bites.

Hornets

"My oldest daughter got
into a wasps nest and had over 35 stings on her legs, by the time I got
her home (5 to 10 minute trip) her legs had swelled and welts had
formed all over her legs, she couldn't walk. We slathered her down with
a charcoal paste out in the sun and let it dry, and then rinsed it and
slathered her down again, after the second time when we rinsed her legs
off there was no swelling and no welts could be seen."

Marianne, 6/06

Yellow Jackets

I only met Jacob a couple
of days ago. Because he is affiliated with a holistic
health-conditioning center I once visited outside New York City, and
because it has become a habit, I asked him if he had any charcoal
stories. He said this experience came immediately to mind: “When I was
in Georgia, a four-month old girl was bitten on her hand by a
yellow-jacket wasp. In just a matter of seconds, I saw the arm turn
purple, beginning from her hand and reaching all the way up her arm. I
quickly made and applied a charcoal poultice to her entire arm and
hand, and I gave her a charcoal slurry to drink. Slowly the color
retreated from the biceps downward, until within about thirty minutes
the color of her whole arm was back to normal.” No wonder he remembers
the story!

Yellow Jackets

Doctor Agatha Thrash (pathologist and, for forty-five years,
Medical Examiner for the State of Georgia) knows how dangerous insects
can be. She relates the following two case histories from her book Rx Charcoal:

“A three-year old girl
was playing in her yard. Seeing a hole in the ground, her curiosity was
piqued, and she stuck a stick into it. Out came a swarm of angry yellow
jackets which immediately attacked her. Hearing her screams, her mother
came running to the rescue. By that time the little girl was covered
with the vicious insects. We later counted over fifty stings on her
from the collarbones up. The frantic mother began to beat the wasps
off, and in the process she got fifteen or twenty stings herself.

“Hearing the mother’s call
for help, several people came running. They immediately took and placed
the girl in a tub of cool water, covering everything except her nose
and mouth, and stirred in several tablespoons of charcoal. They kept
the girl in the tub for about thirty minutes. After cleaning her up,
she seemed perfectly comfortable and was soon playing again. The
mother, who had been too busy to care for her own stings, had marked
swelling and pain that persisted for several days.”

Honey Bees

"Mrs. T. had
become extremely allergic to bee stings. With her last sting, she had
nausea, weakness, faintness, and some wheezing, which had necessitated
treatment at an emergency room. Her physician had warned her that the
next attack could be fatal, and urged her to undergo a series of
desensitization shots. Unfortunately, before she could do so, she got
another sting on her hand. Right away, the lady was pale, sweaty, weak,
had a headache and nausea, and severe pain in her hand. She was
beginning to wheeze.

We
first rubbed the sting with a charcoal tablet wet with water as the
very quickest way to apply charcoal, and immediately mixed some
activated charcoal and water, and more completely covered the sting.
Within two or three minutes of the charcoal application, she began to
relax and feel better. A larger poultice was prepared to replace the
emergency one, and it was changed at ten minute intervals for an hour.
We gave her a tablespoon of charcoal by mouth in a glass of water. Then
an interesting thing happened.

The
patient felt perfectly well and took the poultice off believing herself
to be entirely finished with the reaction. Within ten minutes, she was
weak, sweaty, faint, and beginning to wheeze. The poultice was
immediately re-applied, again with clearing of symptoms. After wearing
the poultice all night, she was well. Although this lady usually
experienced massive swelling after bee stings, she had no trace of
swelling.” RX Charcoal page 66

As
an ounce of prevention for the unforeseen, those who know they are
always at risk from severe reactions to insect bites should always have
charcoal with them. It’s too late to go buy a fire extinguisher when
your house is burning. Those who know also tell us that most people who
die in fires had no emergency plans. Charcoal will be a part of any
well-thought out emergency preparedness, whether one lives in the
country or the city.

Hornets

Dianne’s experience is that of most who have used this age-old remedy.
She writes from rural British Columbia, Canada: “As for charcoal, we use it
all the time. As you know I am Dean of Girls here at Fountainview
Academy, and I wouldn't be without charcoal. For upset stomachs, sore
throats, earaches, and for most anything else that comes along, I hand
out the charcoal or make charcoal poultices. They always work. As far
as anything spectacular that I could tell you about, I can't think of
anything in particular. Well, just last Wednesday I took some girls
shopping. On the way home we stopped for supper, and one of the girls
got stung by a hornet. We really had nothing handy to take care of it,
so she suffered until we got home. I then mixed up a warm charcoal
poultice, and put it on her thumb. She kept it on overnight. The next
morning the swelling had all gone, and she was feeling no more pain.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 91

Living in the country does
expose one to more of nature’s insect traffic. Living in the country
also tends to make people a little more independent. Because of time
and distance to city services people often learn to wait and innovate.
Natural remedies like charcoal fit very well with country living. But,
come a long weekend, and countless thousands of city dwellers leave the
city limits behind to visit their country cousins and enjoy the wide
open spaces for themselves. Natural remedies like charcoal fit very
well with city campers too.

Honey Bees

Pauline and Leo are a case
in point. As a RN, Pauline regularly uses charcoal in her hospital
emergency room setting. However, many emergencies are better dealt with
right where they happen. Leo and Pauline purchased a property, at some
distance from the city, and began clearing it for their new home.
Pauline writes: “This past Monday Joshua, our six -year old, got stung
on his ear by a honeybee. He screamed and screamed. We knew that he has
been very sensitive to bug bites, and were concerned that he might have
an anaphylactic reaction. While I tried to calm him, Leo went over to
the fire pit where we had had a recent fire, and he got a piece of
charcoal. He quickly ground it up and made it pasty with some water. We
plastered that on Joshua’s ear. He was still screaming up to that
point, but soon after the charcoal was applied, he calmed down. The
swelling stopped and he had no other bad affects after that.”

CharcoalRemedies.com page115

It is understandable that working in an ER, where medicinal charcoal is
always available, would make it easy for Pauline to forget to take some
with her camping. However, in an emergency, the primitive form of
charcoal is still a very good first aid. But, wouldn't it make good
sense to include some charcoal tablets, capsules, and powder in your
first aid kit for right around home, to take on trips, or camping
outings?

To find out more how
charcoal can help you treat poisonous insect bites and other common ailments,
simply and naturally, right in your home, order the book CharcoalRemedies.com now.

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